Blade honing machine



H. HILL July 28', 1942.

I BLADE HONING MACHINE Filed June 3, 1941 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Patented July 28, 1942 BLADE HONING MACHINE Hermann Hill, Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to Magazine Repeating Razor Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 3, 1941, Serial No. 396,382

Claims.

Broadly, the object is a blade honing machine that will operate on th ground edge of a continuously traveling strip of razor blade stock and bring it to a honed edge.

More particularly, the object is a honing machine employing a pair or pairs of interengaged rolls the individuals of each pair being provided with helical strips, the peripheries of which constitute the honing surface and in which the line of intersection of the surfaces of the rolls can be accurately adjusted with relation to the line of travel of the ground edge mentioned.

Briefly describing the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view showing a machine in which the invention may be incorporated;

Fig. 2 is a view of a honing unit in elevation, parts being broken away, and in section, to best show the details; A

Fig. 3 is an end view in elevation of th honing unit of Fig. 2 with parts broken away to show details;

Fig. 4 is a detached plan view of the honing members;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a blade strip guide with parts removed to show details;

Fig. 6 is a view on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view in section showing the blade strip guide.

In describing the machine and its component units, the side that is uppermost on the sheet in Fig. 1 will at times be referred to as the right or right-hand side of the machine and that side which is lowest on the sheet will at times be referred to as the left or left-hand side of the machine.

The units that make up the machine are two grinding units A and A, thre honing units B, B and B five wiping units C, C C C and O, a strip feeding unit D comprising two driven opposed rolls, a breaking unit E, and a stacking unit F; the number of grinding units and the number of honing units may of course be increased or under some circumstances reduced, but it has been found that the number given is suificient to bring a fully ground blade strip to a sharp edge, and therefore it is adopted for commercial work.

The stock or blade strip M which is to be ground and honed as it passes through the machine is drawn from a conventional reel located in advance of the first grinding unit. In dimensions it would vary in width from .003" to perhaps 1" and in thickness perhaps from .003" to notches 8, 8, each successive pair being spaced a blade length from the preceding pair. The purpose in providing notches is for cooperation with the breaking unit, which however has nothing to do with the invention claimed in this application.

After passing through the grinding units and acquiring a ground edge 9, the strip passes successively through the honing units B, B and B and thence through the feeding unit and the breaking unit to th stacking unit. This application is concerned with the honing units, all of which are identical except that the honing rolls of successive units are of successively finer texture. It is therefore necessary, for an understanding of the invention, to describe only one of these honing units.

The working parts are supported on a frame Ill. The two honing rolls II and I2 shown as of the worm type with a peripheral helical groove are fixedly mounted on shafts l3 and I8 journaled at one end in the hanger l4 and at the other end in the hanger I5. The hangers, in turn, are releasably connected by means of clamp collars Ilia and I611 to the shafts l6 and I1, which, in turn, are rotatably journaled in the vertically sliding blocks l9 and 2D.

The blocks [9 and 20 are mounted for limited vertical sliding motion on guides in the frame so that, as the blocks are moved upward or downward, they carry with them the shafts l6 and I! together with the honing rolls, the hangers by which they are suspended, and the driving mechanism. The blocks and the shafts l6 and I! in effect constitute a single rigid frame. For purposes which will later appear, the bearings in which'the shafts I3 and I8 are journaled are of the self-aligning type. As the shafts l6 and I! are both mounted in the blocks l9 and 29 in the same manner, vertical motion of the blocks raises and lowers both of the sets of mechanism above described in unison. The two rolls are of similar construction except that their helical threads or honing strips are in opposite directionsi. e., rights and leftsand they rotate in opposite directionsviz., in the directions indicated by the arrows of Fig. 3. Trains of mechanisms that drive them are similar to each other except that the drive for the right-hand roll is through the sprocket chain 20b, the sprocket 20a, the gear 22, and the gear 23, while the drive for the left-hand roll is from the gear 22 through the gear 22a and the gear 2%. As will appear, the up and down motion of the blocks l9 and 20 should be capable .012", and its edges are provided with pairs of of being carried out in micrometer increments,

and therefore the following mechanism is provided for accomplishing it: Each block has a vertical threaded bore to accommodate the screws 24, and each screw has a shank 25 revolvably mounted in the frame and a worm gear 26 meshing with a worm 21 non-revolvably mounted on the shaft 28 which, in turn, is journaled in the brackets 29. Clamp collars 29a on the shanks of the screws prevent them from traveling as they rotate. On the shaft is mounted a hand wheel 30 with its periphery calibrated in fine divisions. On the frame of the machine is an arm 3| on which is inscribed a reference mark 32 to assist the operator when adjusting the honing rolls vertically to do so with accuracy and by definite increments. By turning the hand wheel 30 in one direction or the other, the rolls may be adjusted vertically in unison. This raises or lowers, as the case may be, the line of intersection of their peripheries. The honing rolls with a helical strip of short pitch, the periphery of which constitutes the honing surface. These strips interengage or dovetail with eachother, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that a ground blade edge can project between them and both facets of the ground edge be properly honed. The blade strip M is shown in Fig. 3 as in the proper position for honing, it being understood that the direction of rotation of the honing rolls is as shown in the arrows-d. e., it is against the blade edge. The peripheries of the honing surf-aces of the rolls are not true cylinders; on the contrary, as will be observed from Fig. 4, they taper slightly after the manner of a truncated cone toward the entrant end; i. e., the end at which any given section of the blade strip enters below them, the smaller end being the entrant end. Since the overall width of the blade strip (or, as it is shown in the drawing, its height) is slightly reduced as it passes beneath the honing rolls, it is advisable that this reduction be a progressive one as the strip travelsor at least that it shall not be too abruptly brought about, as would be the case if the rollers were true cylinders with their axes parallel with the line of travel of the edge of the strip. The progressive reduction is accomplished by the tapered form described and ,as shown in Fig. 4.

The blade strip guide is mounted on the standard 33 mounted on the frame of the machine and.

is made up of two complementary plates 34 and 35 bolted together as shown in Fig. 6. The inner walls of the plates diverge from each other as seen in cross-section (Fig. 6), and their meeting faces are cut back as shown at 36 to form a channel extending their entire length. Clamped between them is a plate 31 elongated in shape and with arcuate ends, and another plate 38 with an aperture 39 conforming in shape to the plate 31 but leaving a space 46, which serves as a race for the balls 4!. The upper stretch of the race is open so that the blade strip can rest on the balls. As the strip travels propelled by the mechanism D it rides on the balls which travel about the race continuously. The balls therefore take the downward thrust of the honing rolls. The unitary structure comprising the complementary parts 34 and 35 is screwed to the standard 33.

Adjusting mechanisms are provided for bringing the line of intersection of the peripheries of the rolls into proper relationship with the blade edge. The first adjustment for this purpose functions to swing the rolls independently of each other toward and away from the blade edge. As

the mechanisms of both rolls are alike except that they are rights and lefts, only one will be described-viz., that for adjusting the roll ll, although corresponding reference numbers are applied to both. A link 50 pivotally connected to the hanger I4 is also pivotally connected to the eccentric 5| on the shaft 52. The shaft 52 is journaled in the clamp 53 and can be released and secured against rotation therein by turning the clamp screw 54 in the appropriate direction. The clamp 53 is mounted on a traveling carriage 55 which, in turn, is caused to slide toward and away from the blade strip by the non-traversing screw 56 operated by the hand wheel 51 having a scale on its periphery 53 which is used in connection with the reference indicator 59 affixed to the frame as shown. The screw 56 is rendered non-traversing by the fixed collars 66 and 6| and is threaded in the carriage 55.

The link 63 is pivotally connected to the shaft as shown at 64 and to the pin 65 as shown. The pin 65 is mounted in the clamp 66 and may be released from the clamp or secured therein by operating the clamp screw 6! in the appropriate direction. A second adjusting mechanism for controlling the angles which the axes of the rolls bear .to the line of travel of the blade edge is also provided. On the shaft 52 is fixedly mounted a pointer 68 which cooperates with an indicating scale 69 on the dial 10. Since the pointer 68 turns with the shaft 52, the centerline of the shaft may, by adjusting the eccentric and consequently altering the effective length of the link, be shifted to bring it into parallelism or other desired relationship to the blade edge. The selfaligning bearings of the shafts l3 and I8 permit this to be done without cramping. When the proper setting of the rolls has been effected, the scr 56 is clamped by the clamp screw 12.

The total motion of this adjustment is very small so that a slight looseness in the link connections with the shaft l3 suffices to take care of any misalignment that the adjustment requires. In accomplishing this adjustment, the clamp collars 16a and l6b are first loosened and, after the proper set has been effected, they are again tightened, the adjusting mechanism alone not being depended upon to maintain the adjustment that is accomplished by it.

The adjustment for the honing roll I2 is similar to that for the honing roll I l except that its parts are reversed to make it adaptable for the opposite side of the machine.

It will now be apparent that it is possible to bring the line of intersection of the peripheries of the rolls into the hereinbefore described. relation with the line of travel of the sharpened blade edge and that it is also possible to change the honin angle to accommodate it to the grinding angle-i. e., by moving both hangers away from each other, the honing angle is reduced; by moving them toward each other, it is .increased. Such an adjustment, of course, varies the height of the said line of intersection with respect to the blade edge line, and this variation in height may be corrected by turning the hand wheel 30 one way or the other as may be required; in fact, in threading a new blade strip through the machine, it is necessary that this wheel be operated. If through wear or other causes the line of intersection of the peripheries of the honing rolls should get out of proper relationship to the line of travel of the blade edge, correction may be made by operating the pointer 68 and the corresponding pointer in the mechanism for adjusting the roll l2, in and, out until the relationship is restored.

With the foregoing adjustments it is possible in all cases to adjust the line of intersection of the peripheries of the honing rolls as may be required and also to adjust to a desired honing angle.

While I have described a, certain particular construction in which my invention is incorporated, I do not desire to be limited to this particular embodiment since many changes and modifications may easily be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims:

I claim:

1. A machine for honing ground razor blade strip, comprising a, supporting frame provided with vertical guides, a frame slidably mounted in the guides, a pair of opposed honing rolls, hangers swingingly suspended from the last-mentioned frame, the rolls being revolvably mounted on the hangers, means for securing the hangers against swinging at any angle of their swinging motion, said means comprising a sliding block, link connecting the block with the hangers, means for moving the block toward and away from the blade strip, and means for altering the effective length of one of said links.

2. A machine for honing ground razor blade strip, comprising a supporting frame provided with vertical guides, a frame slidably mounted in the guides, a pair of opposed honing rolls, each provided with a helical strip about its periphery, hangers swingingly suspended from the last-mentioned frame, the rolls tapering toward one end and being revolvably mounted On the hangers, and means for securing the hangers against swinging at any angle of their swinging motion.

3. A machine for honing ground razor blade strip, comprising a supporting frame provided with vertical guides, a fram slidably mounted in the guides, a pair of opposed honing rolls provided with helical strips about their peripheries and tapering toward one end, hangers swingingly suspended from the last-mentioned frame, the rolls being revolvably mounted on the hangers, and means for adjustin th angle of the hangers each independently of the other and for securing them in the position to which they are adjusted.

4. A machine for honing ground razor blade strip, comprising a supporting frame provided with vertical guides, a frame slidably mounted in the guides, a pair of opposed honing rolls, each being provided with a helical strip about its periphery, said rolls tapering toward one end, hangers swingingly suspended from the lastmentioned frame, the rolls being revolvably mounted on hangers, means for securing the hangers against swinging at any angle of their swinging motion, said means comprising a sliding block, links connecting the carriage to the hangers, and means for moving the carriage toward and away from the blade strip.

5. A machine for honing ground razor blade strip, comprising a supporting frame provided with vertical guides, a frame slidably mounted in the guides, a pair of opposed honing rolls, each being provided with a helical strip about its periphery, said rolls tapering toward one end, hangers swingingly suspended from the lastmentioned frame, the rolls being revolvably mounted in hangers, means for securing the hangers at any angle of their swinging motion, said means comprising a sliding carriage, links connecting the carriage to the hangers, and means for moving the carriage toward and away from the blade strip, the effective length of one of the links connecting each hanger being variable.

HERMANN HILL. 

